Scalar Ring alignment tool for BUD

Status
Please reply by conversation.

SignalHill

Well-Known SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
Pub Member / Supporter
Oct 30, 2013
30
17
Newfoundland, Canada
I made a gadget to help align the scalar ring on my BUD. It uses an el cheapo laser gunsight and a piece of plastic machined to fit inside the scalar ring.
 

Attachments

  • alignment_tool_2.JPG
    alignment_tool_2.JPG
    95.7 KB · Views: 257
  • alignment_tool_1.JPG
    alignment_tool_1.JPG
    123.7 KB · Views: 252
I was off by about 6 inches, making the laser dot just outside the round center plate of the dish. It's about 1 1/2" away from the center now and I am getting signal levels of around 83% on my Openbox S10 on G19. This forum has been a huge help to me during the BUD search/buy/dismantle/drag home/refurbish/install/align process.

cheers
fred
 
Guys I like your ingenuity but how can you be certain that you have established a perfect 90 degree angle?. Even the laser light itself might not be parallel with the body.

I was working on a similar idea using lasers, but gave up when I could not be certain about the 90 degree angle. I even tried using the pythagorean theorem but couldn't get an accurate measument of the beam.

I wonder if there are any mathematicians on the board that could weight in.
 
Was thinking about getting this one,

31xNbPUkQZL.jpg

Should be easy enough to build a holder to get it square and centered. Good enough for rifle bores, good enough for me.
 
using lasers, but gave up when I could not be certain about the 90 degree angle
Put a portable drill in a vice. Chuck in the laser. Turn on laser - Turn on drill. You'll either get a point of light, or a circle of varying size.
If circle, determine it's center. Turn off drill. Rotate laser to place spot on top of circle. mark laser body top. Measure the center/spot offset. Best if projecting to a surface = to your focal length.
Use measurement and direction to compensate.
(The above is just a 'brain fart'. so YMMV. )
 
We talked about this before.
I suggested a laser from a 99-cent store...or several, if necessary. :)
Problem with them is that their beam is not coaxial...not parallel to the outside body.
The first step is solving that problem. :up
.
edit: a variation on Fat Airs spinning technique was put forward.
.
.
 
I made one that fits snugly inside the throat of an LNB. To check if its 90 deg I put a thumtack on the ceiling of the garage and dropped a weighted string to a spot on the floor. Place the lazer in the holder on that spot and check if it hits the thumbtack on the ceiling.
 
I've been thinking about such a tool as well. I have more or less professional lazer-pointer (at least it coasted much more than rest of them), it has long round body. I would like to make some kind of adapters with inner diameter to tight fit pointer and outer diameter 40mm for Ku-band LNB or 60 (or whatever) for C-band LNB. I have plastic adapters for Ku-band LNB to be fitted in C-band holder. When pointing, better to turn pointer several times and watch how light moving.
 

Attachments

  • P1290549 (Large).JPG
    P1290549 (Large).JPG
    339.4 KB · Views: 201
If you rotate the whole assembly you will see the dot move in a circular pattern (if the angle is off). Adjust for the smallest circle. I have done this before using the feedhorn throat and it works very well.
 
Was thinking about getting this one,

View attachment 92314

Should be easy enough to build a holder to get it square and centered. Good enough for rifle bores, good enough for me.

That bore sight will be tapered like the chamber of the rifle it's designed to fit in so that may not be a good idea either. :confused: If you can get a straight casing bore sighter like a .444 Marlin or a .45-70 Government round then that might work but the one in the picture is for a tapered chamber rifle.
 
That bore sight will be tapered like the chamber of the rifle it's designed to fit in so that may not be a good idea either. :confused: If you can get a straight casing bore sighter like a .444 Marlin or a .45-70 Government round then that might work but the one in the picture is for a tapered chamber rifle.
Damn, I knew I might be outted by a real firearms enthusiast. I shall keep this in mind sir !
 
Great idea, think I'll try this. I have a laser that I pulled out of an old spectrograph that is very accurate and not tapered and looks like it may even be the same diameter as the bore in my scalar. Might be what I mess around with this weekend, thanks for posting this, SignalHill.
 
Just put the laser on a table, pointing at the ceiling. Spin it around while it's turned on, and adjust as needed with whatever you are using to do that in your cap, until it's a tight sharp beam at the center on the ceiling.
 
Status
Please reply by conversation.

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 0, Members: 0, Guests: 0)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)